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May 14, 2013 | 1:48 PM (Photo: Reuters/Fred Prouser)Actress Angelina Jolie smiles with her partner Brad Pitt as they arrive at the 23rd annual Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 21, 2012. Jolie, who directed and produced the film "In The Land of Blood and Honey," and other producers of the film received the Stanley Kramer Award at the event.

The Hollywood actor, 49, described the mother-of-six as "heroic" after she chose to have both breasts removed as a preventative measure to protect her health. After conducting standard health exams, doctors reportedly estimated that Jolie, 37, had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

"Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic. I thank our medical team for their care and focus," Pitt told The London Evening Standard.

"All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family," he added.

Jolie reportedly tested positive for the BRCA 1 gene, which prompted her decision to undergo the procedure. Her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died from ovarian cancer at the age of 56, which also influenced the life changing decision.

The Oscar award-winning actress paid tribute to Pitt in a widely applauded op-ed published in The New York Times.

"I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries," Jolie wrote in the op-ed entitled "My Medical Choice."

"We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has," Jolie wrote.

Pitt and Jolie have been involved since 2005 and the Hollywood couple shares six children: Maddox, 11, Pax, 9, Zahara, 8, Shiloh, 6, and 4-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.